Improvement in steam and hydraulic presses



UNITED STATES;

JOHN TAYLOR, OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.

:IndentureMunirv Inl STEAM AND HYDRAULIC PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 112,298, dated February 28, 1871.`

To all trimm it may concern l I Beit known that l, JoHNfF.` TAYLOR, of' Charleston, in the district of Charleston andl State ofSonth Carolina, have invented anew and Improved Steam and Hydraulic Press; and I do hereby declare the following to vbe a full, clear, and exact description of the same,

reference beinghad to the accompanying draw-w ing making a part of this specification, in whiohl l f.

Figure l is a side elevation of the press and l liquid-connecting-pipe, with an end elevation ofthe liquid-chambers. Fig. 2 is an end ele-If vation of the press. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the steam-cylinders, liquid-chambers, and liquidconnectin gpi pes, with a transverse horizontal section of that part of the press that is beneath the platen. Fig. 4 isa side elevation of one of the steam-cylinders, with a sectional elevation of its liquidchamber.v Fig. 5

is an end elevation of the steamcylinder. Fig# 6 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the chest that contains the valves which admit steam to and exhaust it from the cylinder, with a side elevation of the rock-shafts and Wipers, by which' said valves are'operated. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 8 isa sectional elevation of the end of the liquid-chamber f,fand\of the checkvalve therein. Fig. 9 is a sectional ele.

vation of the end of the liquid-chamber e'and of the `safetyval'ce therein; `and Fig. 10 is a sectional elevation of either of the steam-cylinders and of the rockshaft, together with a side elevation of one of the toes in the valve-` stem, and of certain of the wipers on the rockshalt,'and of'the hand-lever, and of the rod that passes through the cylinder-head and `is caused by the piston to operate the handlever.

ThisV invention relates to a press for cotton or any other material, in which the .platen is operated by the introduction, beneath it, of oil or some other liquid underpressnre, communicated to said liquid by the pistons of steamcylinders, and in which the platen islow'ered by itSoWnWeI'ght, and the expansion of the material compressed, both acting, through the medium of the liquid, upon the pistons, which are .permitted to `yield by theopeningof valvesin the ends of the cylinders in rear ofthe pistons, through whichsteani escapes .before the returning pistons, the pistons acting upon the platen lalternately, one to impart thel initialV pressure and the other the finishing pressure; f' the piston that imparts the initial pressurev being operatedby the exhaust steam ofv the i other cylinder, which steam, having then done f all tha-tis required of it, is discharged into the atmosphere; and 'thepiston that imparts ther iinishing pressure bein g operated by livesteam from the boiler, which steam is subsequently discharged into the other cylinder, there to communicate another initial pressure to the platen.

l Referring to the drawing, A apressofl prdinary construction, except as hereinafter specified, having a lower platen, B, which op-v crates by moving upward. To the lower side ofthe platen B are attached, in any suitable manner, the u'pper ends of two vertical solid cylinders or rams, a, Figs. 1 and 3, which are inclosed in cases, b, secured in the lower part of the press-frame, each case having a cylindrical bore which the ram fits closely. Into the bottoms of said bores, pipes, c, open, (one 1 pipe to each bore,) which pipes are branches extending from the lower end ot' an inclined ube, d, the upper extremity of whichis ,conhected by branches, c f', with the nearest jends of` horizontal chambers, ef, that contain bil .or other suitable, liquid. Atv their other ends the chambers c f are connected. with hor-- izontal steamcylinders,` g h. From thepis-y tons `g h of said cylinders grams ij extend,

passing through stufngb'oxes in the ends of fthe cylinders and enteringprespectively, the

chambers ef, theinteriors ot: which said rams. Thechambere and ram e' are oi fit closely. yless diameter than the rams u, for a purpose hereinafter explained. ,C is a pipe, leadingfrom the boiler, and serving to conduct live ASteam direct to the valve-chamber a,

-Priorto any pressing operation the pistons..

are both atthe rear ends of the cylinders.

0n raising the valve Z, the valve m meantime remaining closed, live steam. flows through the induction-pipe o directlyto v the rear of the piston g', and starts it toward the front end of the cylinder g. When the piston has reachedfthe front end of the cylinder the l valve Z is made to close, by means set forth at` the end of this description, and the valvem is opened. l

PATENT OFFICE.

he closing of the -valve l shutsoff the vsupply-of live steam that propelled the piston g forward against the pressure of the liquid in the chamber e, and the opening of the valve m enables the pressure of the liquid to force the piston back again to the rear end ot' the cylinder', driving the steam out through said -vnlve into the pipe p that connects the valvechamber of the two cylinders. As the inletvalve of the second chamber has thus far remained closed, the steam ejected from the cylinder g having no other outlet passes into the pipe q, which opens into the connecting-pipe, and is thereby conducted into the cylinder again, the'pipe q passing along the outside of the? cylinder to its .front end, where it enters the cylinder and discharges the steam which ,'fillsthe whole space in front of the piston.

by drawn back through the pipe q into the' connecting-pipep, and from the latter through the-valve r and induction-pipe t conducted directly against the rear of the piston h', setting thesameiin motion. The exhaust steam of the cylinder g thus becomes the motive steam of the piston h', and continues to ow from onel cylinder to the other until the pressure on the two pistons is equalized. Then the valve r is lclosed by its-ownwe'ight, and if any steam still remainsin'frontof the piston g it must be disposed of'by openinga poppet-valve in a pipe that leads from the front end of the cylinder g, around outside of the cylinder h, to the exhaust-.pipeu, Fig. 3, and thus allows the surplus steam to escape. As the piston h moves forward it pushes the ram j through the chamber' f, and the ram j consequently displaces'the uid in the chamber,'and forces it through the pipe jl, tube d, and branches c, into the -bores of the cases b, beneath the rams a, which are thereby raised, and lift the platen B. This mmiement of the'platen continues untilthe piston h either reaches the front end ofthe cylinder h or is stopped by the resistance which it` meets. As soon as the piston h stops, a check-valve, o, placed at the end of the chamber j', and across the mouth of the pipe f', and which is lifted by the flow of liquid through the latter, falls automatically and prevents the return of the liquid. The steam in the cylinder h remains shut up therein.

' To complete the pressing operation the valve l is again opened, and live steam admitted against the rear of the piston g', which is thereby forced forward in the cylinder g, and, by means of its ram t', drives a second current of liquid out of the chamber e, through the pipe e',` tube d, and-branches c, into the bores ot' the cases b, from which current the platen B receives a fresh impulse, and powerfully compresses the material between itself and the Lipper platen.

To relieve the pipe e, tube d, and branches c, if at any time the strain upon them becomes too great-for their powers of resistance, a safety-valve, w, isl placed in the upper side of the end of the chamber c, which valve, when raised, admits the liquid into a pipe, that connects the chamber e with the chamber f., and allows the surplus liquid to ilow into the latter.

To provide against `the concussion of the pistons against the'front heads of the cylin-V ders, external chambers y are cast to the latter near their front extremities, said chambers communicating with the interiors of the cylf inders at the extreme front ends of the latter,

and also at points which are farther from the front ends of the cylinders than the pistonsare wide, so that, as soon as the pistons pass these points, steam ows into the chamber,

and passes around to the space in front of the pistons, forming cushions between them and the cylinder-heads before the pistons can collide with the latter. j

The initial pressure upon the platen does not need to be as powerful as the finishing pressure, and the ram t', which applies the finishing pressure, is, therefore, worked by` live steam, while the ram j, which applies the initial pressure, is worked by exhaust steam. I n addition to this provision the ram i is made of considerably less diameter than the rams a,

in order that the pressure exerted upon they latter may be in proportion as their diameters are greater than the diameter of the ram t.

l: The compression of the material having been completed it is properly tied ,and then the valve lis closed, the valve m opened, and the weight of the platen, together with the expansion of the material, once more causes the piston g to return to the rear end of the cylinder g, and i the steam in rear of the piston to pass around and fill. the space in front of it, the platen meanwhile effecting a partial descent. Then the check-valve c and the exhaust-valve z are opened, whereupon the platen completesN itsdescent, the liquid forcing the-ram j back through the chamber f, the piston h to the rear end of the cylinder h, and the steam in the latter into the atmosphere through the exhaust-valve z.

The next operation is to impart the initial pressure anew to the lower platen by discharging the steam :in the cylinder g against the rear of the piston h', which operation, together with its attendant consequences, has already been fully described.

All the valves herein enumerated, except the safety-valve, are operated, in the usual manner, by means of rock-shafts bearing wipers, which impinge upon toes on the valve-v stems as the shafts are rocked to and fro by the hand-levers attached to them.

The rock-shaft which operates the checkvalve has a connecting-rod which may be hooked to the lever of either of the rockshai'ts A4 B4.

rlhe rockshaft A* operates the valves l, m, and z simultaneously. The rock-shaft B4 operates the valves m and if simultaneously.

The diagram in Fig. 4 shows the various positions of the rock-shafts. At A the valves l m z and the check-valve are closed. At A2 the same vaives are open. At A3v the valve l is closed, and the valves m and z and the checlcvalve are open. At 1?l the valves l and z are closed, and at B2 they are open.

The shaft A4 has three Wipers, which operate, respectively, the valves l, m, and z. The shaft B4 has one Wiper, which operates the valve 1'. Y

The cylinders g h are provided with rods passing through stuffing-boxes in their rear heads and jointed to the handhavers.

As the pistons strike the front ends of said rods the latter are thrown back, so as to cause the liandlevers to turn the rockshafts far enough to close the exhaust-valves fm and z, successively, and thus stop the escape ofsteam at a time when enough is lleft to form cushions, which prevent the pistons from-colliding forcibly with the cylinder-heads.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

1. The method herein described of raising the platen by hydraulic pressure, when the latter is applied directly from the pistons of steam-engines through the medium of their pistonrods of unequal diameter, substantially as described.

2. The method herein described of passing live steam that has been used for one propulsion of the piston of a steam-cylinder around from the rear to the front of the piston, and then passing it to another cylinder to operate the piston therein.

3. The external chamber y, in combination with a steam-cylinder, vin the manner described, and `for the purpose of forming a cushion to prevent the concussion of' the piston against the cylinderhea-d.

4. The method herein described of raising' the platen by an initial hydraulic pressure applied with exhaust steam, and a completing hydraulic pressure applied with live steam.

1 JOHN F. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

B. R. SHEA, W. H. PRIOLEAN. 

